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#i#I offer my respeciful obeisances unto Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, by whose mercy even a person in the lowest status of life can find direction in transcendental devotional service to the Lord.#/i#
#$p#After Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu accepted the renounced order of life, Sannyasa, He travelled all over India. During this period, He went to Maldaha, a district in Bengal, and in that portion of the land there was a village by the name of Ramkeli. Two government ministers of the Nawab Hussain Shah's regime lived there, namely Dabir Khas and Shakar Mallik, later renamed Sanatan Goswami and Rupa Goswami. They had a chance to meet Lord Chaitanya, and after meeting Him they decided that they would retire from the government service and join His Samkirtan movement. The two brothers at once took steps to leave their material engagements, and appointed two learned Brahmins to perform certain Vedic religious rituals in order to achieve complete freedom for the devotional service of Krishna.
#$p#These preliminary activities are known as Purascharya. The ritual function of this process is that three times a day one has to worship and offer respects to one's forefathers, offer oblation to the fire, and respectfully offer foodstuffs to a learned Brahmin. Five items; the time, the worship, the offering of respect, the offering of oblation into the fire, and the offering of foodstuffs to a Brahmin; comprise Purascharya. In the Hari Bhakti Vilas, the directional authoritative book, these rituals are mentioned.
#$p#After performance of these religious rituals, the younger brother Shakar Mallik (Rupa Goswami), returned to his home with an immense amount of money which he had acquired during his government service. The silver and gold coins he brought back filled a large boat. After arriving home he divided the accumulated wealth first into two, and distributed one part to the Brahmins and Vaishnavas. Thus, for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he distributed fifty per cent of his accumulated wealth to persons engaged in the Supreme Lord's transcendental loving service. The Brahmins are meant to understand the Absolute Truth; and thereafter, when one is actually engaged in the loving service of the Lord, he is called a Vaishnava. Both the Brahmins and the Vaishnavas are supposed to be fully engaged in transcendental service, and Rupa Goswami, considering their important transcendental position, gave them fifty per cent of his wealth. The balance was again divided into two: one part he distributed to his relatives or dependent family members, and the other he kept against personal emergency.
#$p#This distribution of personal wealth is very instructive for all who desire to be elevated to the advancement of spiritual knowledge. Generally, a person bequeaths all his accumulated wealth to the family members, and then retires from family activities for progress in spiritual knowledge. But here we find the exemplary behavior of Rupa Goswami: he gave fifty per cent of his wealth for spiritual purposes. This should be the example for every one of us. The twenty-five per cent of his accumulated wealth which he kept against personal emergency he deposited with a good business firm, since in those days there were no banks. Another ten thousand coins were deposited for expenditures by his elder brother, Sanatan Goswami.
#$p#Rupa Goswami at this time received information that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was preparing to proceed toward Vrindaban from Jagannath Puri. He sent two messengers to receive actual information of the Lord's itinerary, and he made his own plans to go to Mathura to meet the Lord there. It appears that Rupa Goswami got permission to join Lord Chaitanya, but Sanatan Goswami did not. Therefore, Sanatan Goswami entrusted his responsibility in the government service to his immediate assistants, and he remained at home to study Srimad Bhagwatam.
#$p#He engaged some ten or twenty learned Brahmins, and began an intensive study of Srimad Bhagwatam in their company. While he was thus engaged, he submitted sick reports to the Nawab, but the ruler was very anxious for his advice in government matters, and therefore he suddenly appeared one day at Sanatan Goswami's house. The Nawab entered the assembly of Sanatan Goswami and the Brahmins, and out of respect all of them stood up to receive him and they offered him a place to sit. The Nawab said:
#$p#"You have submitted sick reports, but I sent my physician to see you, and he reported that you have no illness. I did not know why you were submitting sick reports and not attending to your service, so I have personally come to see you. And I'm much perturbed by your behavior. As you know, I completely depend on you and your responsible work in governing. I was therefore free to act in other matters because I was depending on you, but if you do not join me, your past devotion will be spoiled. Now, what is your intention? Please tell me."
#$p#On hearing this, Sanatan Goswami replied that he was unable to work anymore and it would be very kind of the Nawab if he appointed somebody else to execute the work that was entrusted to him. The Nawab became very angry at this and said, "Your elder brother lives like a hunter, and if you also retire from the administration then everything will be finished." It is said that the Nawab used to treat Sanatan Goswami as a younger brother. The Nawab was engaged in conquering different parts of the country, and he was also engaged in hunting, and therefore he depended more or less on Sanatan Goswami for administration; and so he pleaded with him: "If you also retire from the government service, how will the administration be run?" Sanatan Goswami replied very gravely: "You are the governor of Gouda, and you punish different kinds of criminals in different ways. So you are at liberty to punish anyone according to his activity." The purpose of his reply was that the governor was engaged in hunting animals and killing men to expand his kingdom; so let both of them suffer according to the acts they were performing.
#$p#The Nawab was intelligent, and he understood Sanatan Goswami's purpose and left the place in an angry mood. Shortly afterward, he went off to conquer Orissa, and ordered the arrest of Sanatan Goswami until he returned.
#$p#Rupa Goswami then learned that his elder brother Sanatan had been arrested by the Nawab. He sent information by messenger that the ten thousand coins in Gouda (Bengal) in custody of the Grocer, could be used to release him from the Nawab's detention. Rupa Goswami, with his younger brother whose name was Sri Ballabha, then started for Vrindaban to meet Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Sanatan offered five thousand coins to the keeper of the jail in which he was being kept in custody. He advised the jailkeeper to gladly accept the five thousand coins from him and let him go, because by accepting such money he would be materially benefitted, and at the same time he would be acting very righteously in freeing Sanatan for spiritual activities.
#$p#The custodian replied, "Of course I can let you go, because you have done many services for me and you are in government service. I know that, but I am afraid of the Nawab when he hears that you are free. I'll have to explain. How can I accept such a proposal?" Sanatan gave a story which the custodian might submit to the Nawab—as to how he had escaped—and he then raised his offer to ten thousand coins. The custodian then agreed to the proposition as he was very anxious to get the ten thousand coins. And so he let him go.
#$p#Sanatan then proceeded to Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He did not go on the open road but travelled instead through the jungles until he arrived at a place in Bihar called Pabda, and rested there in the hotel. The hotel keeper, meanwhile, was informed by an astrologer employed at the hotel that Sanatan Goswami had some gold coins with him, and he wanted to take them from him. And so he spoke with superficial respect: "You just take your rest tonight, and in the morning I shall arrange for you to get out of this jungle trap." Sanatan, however, was suspicious of the behavior of the hotel keeper. and he inquired from his accompanying servant Isan whether he had some money. Isan told him that he had seven gold coins with him. Sanatan did not like the idea of the servant carrying such money. He was angry with him and said, "Why do you carry this death knell on the road?"
#$p#Sanatan at once took the seven gold coins and offered them to the hotel keeper; he then requested the hotel keeper to help him through the jungle. He informed him that he was on a special journey for the government and could not travel on the open road, and therefore it would be very kind if the hotel keeper would help him to get over the jungle mountain. The hotel keeper replied, "I understood that you had eight coins with you and I was thinking of killing you to take them. But you are very good, I can understand, and so you don't have to offer me the money. I'll get you out of the hill-tract."
#$p#Sanatan replied, "If you don't accept these coins then somebody else will take them from me. Somebody will kill me for them, so better you take them. I offer them to you." The hotel keeper then gave him full assistance and that very night he helped him to get past the hills.
#$p#When Sanatan emerged, he requested his servant to go home with the one coin that he had still with him, and he would go on alone. After the departure of his servant, Sanatan felt completely free. With torn clothing and with a water-pot in his hand he began to proceed toward Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. On the way he met his rich brother-in-law who was also in the service of the government, and who offered him an excellent blanket, which Sanatan accepted at his special request. Then he parted from him and went on alone to see Chaitanya Mahaprabhu at Benares.
#$p#When he reached Benares, he understood that the Lord was there and he was very glad. He was informed by people that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was staying at the house of Chandra Sekhar Acharya, and he went there. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was inside the house and He could understand that Sanatan had arrived at the door. He asked Chandra Sekhar to call the man who was sitting at His door, "He is a Vaishnava, a great devotee of the Lord." Chandra Sekhar went out to see the man but he saw no Vaishnava at the door; he saw only a man who appeared to be a mendicant. The Lord then asked to see the mendicant. When Sanatan entered the courtyard of the house, Lord Chaitanya hurriedly came to receive him and embraced him. When the Lord embraced him, Sanatan became overwhelmed with spiritual ecstasy, and he began to say, "My dear Lord, please do not touch me." But both of them embraced each other and began to cry. Seeing Sanatan and Lord Chaitanya acting thus, Chandra Sekhar was struck with wonder. Lord Chaitanya received Sanatan in this way, and asked him to sit down with Him on a bench.
#$p#He was touching the body of Sanatan with his hand and Sanatan asked Him, "My dear Lord, please do not touch me." The Lord replied, "I am touching you just for My purification, because you are a great devotee. By your devotional service you can deliver the whole universe for going back to Godhead."
#$p#In this connection the Lord quoted a nice verse from Srimad Bhagwatam. The purport of the verse is that a person who is a devotee of Lord Krishna, one hundred per cent engaged in devotional service, is far better than a Brahmin who is learned in all the Vedic literature, but who is not engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. The devotee can purify every place and every thing because he is carrying the Supreme Lord within his heart.
#$p#In the Vedic literature it is also stated that the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not recognize even a person who is very learned in all the divisions of the Vedas; but, rather, He likes a person even if born of a low family, provided that person is a devotee. Instead of offering charities to some Brahmin who is not a devotee, if something is offered to a devotee, that offering is accepted by the Lord. In other words, anything offered to the Lord may be given to His devotees. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also quoted from Srimad Bhagwatam that, if a Brahmin, although qualified with the twelve different qualities of a Brahmin, is not a devotee of the Supreme Lord, then he is lower than the lowest of the low—even though born in a high family. A devotee, although born in a Chandala (dogeater) family, can purify his whole family for 100 generations past and future by devotional service, whereas a proud Brahmin cannot even purify himself. It is said in the Hari Bhakti Sudodaya, "O devotee of the Lord, to see you is the perfection of the eyes, to touch your body is the perfection of bodily activities, to glorify your qualities is the perfection of the tongue—because it is very rare to find a pure devotee like you."
#$p#The Lord next said to Sanatan that Krishna is very merciful, and is the Deliverer of the fallen soul. "He has saved you from Maharauraba." This Maharauraba, hell, is described in Srimad Bhagwatam. It is for persons who are engaged in killing animals. It is stated there that butchers or animal-eaters go to that hell. Sanatan replied, "I do not know the mercy of Krishna, but I can understand that Your mercy is causeless upon me. You have delivered me from the entanglement of material life."
#$p#Then the Lord inquired: "How did you get free from your custody? I understood that you were arrested." Sanatan narrated the whole story of how he was released. Lord Chaitanya then informed him, "I have seen your two brothers, and I have advised them to proceed toward Vrindaban."
#$p#Lord Chaitanya now introduced Chandra Sekhar to Sanatan, and there was a pleasant invitation made for Sanatan to dine with him. The Lord requested Chandra Sekhar to take Sanatan to the barber and make him gentle, because Sanatan had grown a long beard which Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not like. He therefore asked Chandra Sekhar to take Sanatan to a bath and get him dean-shaved. He asked him to change his clothes also.
#$p#After taking a bath and cleansing himself, Sanatan requested Chandra Sekhar to give him some good cloth. When Lord Chaitanya was informed that Sanatan did not accept new garments, but accepted only some used garments from Chandra Sekhar, He was very glad. The Lord sat down for lunch and asked Chandra Sekhar to keep food for Sanatan. Chandra Sekhar did not offer him food immediately, however, but after the Lord finished His eating there were some remnants of His foodstuff, and that was offered to Sanatan while the Lord went for His rest.
#$p#After this, Lord Chaitanya introduced one Maharastrian Brahmin, His devotee, to Sanatan; and that Maharastrian Brahmin invited Sanatan to accept lunch daily at his place, as long as he remained at Benares. Sanatan said, "So long as I remain at Benares, I will beg from door to door; and the Lord will be so good as to accept from you this invitation for daily lunch at the Brahmin's house."
#$p#By this behavior of Sanatan Lord Chaitanya was very much pleased; but He noticed the valuable blanket that was given to Sanatan by his brother-in-law while on route to Benares. Although Lord Chaitanya was overlooking the blanket, Sanatan understood that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not approve of such a valuable garment on his body, and he planned to get rid of it. He immediately went to the bank of the Ganges and there saw a mendicant washing an old quilt. Sanatan asked him to trade the old quilt for the valuable blanket. The poor medicant thought that Sanatan was joking with him, so he said, "How is that? You appeared to be a very nice gentleman, but you are mocking me in this unmannerly way."
#$p#Sanatan informed him, "I am not joking with you. I am very serious.
Will you kindly exchange that torn quilt for this blanket?" Then Sanatan exchanged his blanket for the torn quilt, and he came before the Lord.
#$p#The Lord inquired, "Where is your valuable blanket?"
#$p#Sanatan informed Him about the exchange at the Ganges of the blanket for the torn quilt. The Lord then loved him for this and He thanked Sanatan: "You are intelligent enough and you have now finished all your attraction for material wealth." In other words, the Lord accepts a person for devotional service only when he is completely free from all materialistic possessions. The Lord said to Sanatan, "It would not look well to become a mendicant and go begging from door to door while at the same time you have such a valuable blanket on your body; it is contradictory, and people would look at it with abhorrence." Sanatan replied to the Lord, "Whatever I am doing to become free from material attachment, it is all Your mercy." The Lord was very much pleased with him, and both of Them discussed spiritual advancement.
#$p#Previous to this meeting of Sanatan and Lord Chaitanya, Lord Chaitanya met the householder-devotee, Ramananda Roy. In that meeting, which is discussed in a different chapter, Lord Chaitanya asked Ramananda Roy questions and Ramananda replied as if he were the teacher of the Lord. But in this case Sanatan will put questions to the Lord and the Lord will answer them.
#$p#The instruction and teachings of Lord Chaitanya are very important for people in general. He teaches the process of devotional service, which is the constitutional position of every living entity; it is every man's duty to advance in spiritual science. All these things are very nicely discussed in the talks BETWEEN Lord Chaitanya and Sanatan Goswami. At the mercy of Lord Chaitanya Sanatan was able to put questions before Him, and these are replied to properly.
#$p#The meeting of Sanatan and Lord Chaitanya teaches us that in order to understand spiritual subject matters, one must approach a Spiritual Master like Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and make submissive enquiries. This is also confirmed in the instruction of the Bhagavad Gita: that one should approach a man of authority, and learn from him about spiritual science.
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#dl##dd##i#vande ’nantādbhutaiśvaryaṁ śrī-caitanya-mahāprabhum#/i##/dd#
#dd##i#nīco ’pi yat-prasādāt syād bhakti-śāstra-pravartakaḥ#/i##/dd#
#dd#(Cc. Madhya 20.1)#/dd##/dl#
#i#I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, by whose mercy even a person in the lowest status of life can find direction in transcendental devotional service to the Lord#/i#.
#$p#After Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the renounced order of life (#i#sannyāsa#/i#), He traveled all over India. During this period He went to Maldah, a district in Bengal. In that area there was a village named Rāmakeli, where two government ministers of the Nawab Hussain Shah’s regime lived. These two ministers, who were brothers, were named Dabira Khāsa and Sākara Mallika; later they were renamed Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī, respectively. They had a chance to meet Lord Caitanya, and afterward they decided to retire from government service and join His #i#saṅkīrtana#/i# movement.
#$p#Upon making this decision, the two brothers at once took steps to leave their material engagements, and they appointed two learned #i#brāhmaṇas#/i# to perform certain Vedic religious rituals that would enable them to achieve complete freedom for the devotional service of Kṛṣṇa. These preliminary ritualistic functions are known as #i#puraścaryā#/i#. They require that three times a day one worship and offer respects to one’s forefathers, offer oblations to a fire, and respectfully offer food to a learned #i#brāhmaṇa#/i#. Five items—the time, the worship, the offering of respect, the offering of oblations into the fire, and the offering of food to a #i#brāhmaṇa#/i#—constitute #i#puraścaryā#/i#. These and other rituals are mentioned in the #i#Hari-bhakti-vilāsa#/i#, an authoritative book of directions for Vaiṣṇavas.
#$p#After arranging for the performance of these religious rituals, the younger brother, Dabira Khāsa (Rūpa Gosvāmī), returned home with an immense amount of money, which he had acquired during his government service. The silver and gold coins he brought back filled a large boat. After arriving home, he first divided the accumulated wealth in half and distributed one part to the #i#brāhmaṇas#/i# and Vaiṣṇavas. Thus for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he distributed fifty percent of his accumulated wealth to persons engaged in the Supreme Lord’s transcendental loving service. #i#Brāhmaṇas#/i# are meant to understand the Absolute Truth, and once they understand the Absolute Truth and actually engage in the loving service of the Lord, they are known as Vaiṣṇavas. Both #i#brāhmaṇas#/i# and Vaiṣṇavas are supposed to fully engage in transcendental service, and Rūpa Gosvāmī, considering their important transcendental position, gave them fifty percent of his wealth. The balance he again divided in half: one part he distributed to his relatives and dependent family members, and the other he kept for personal emergencies.
#$p#Such distribution of personal wealth is very instructive for all who desire to be elevated in spiritual knowledge. Generally a person bequeaths all his accumulated wealth to his family members and then retires from family activities to make progress in spiritual knowledge. But here we find the behavior of Rūpa Gosvāmī to be exemplary: he gave fifty percent of his wealth for spiritual purposes. This should serve as an example for everyone. The twenty-five percent of his accumulated wealth he kept for personal emergencies was deposited with a Bengali grocer, since in those days there were no banks. Ten thousand coins were deposited for expenditures to be incurred by his elder brother, Sanātana Gosvāmī.
#$p#At this time Rūpa Gosvāmī received information that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was preparing to go to Vṛndāvana from Jagannātha Purī. Rūpa Gosvāmī sent two messengers to get actual information of the Lord’s itinerary, and he made his own plans to go to Mathurā to meet the Lord. It appears that Rūpa Gosvāmī got permission to join Lord Caitanya, but Sanātana Gosvāmī did not. Therefore Sanātana Gosvāmī entrusted the responsibilities of his government service to his immediate assistants, and he remained home to study #i#Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam#/i#. He engaged ten or twenty learned #i#brāhmaṇas#/i# and began an intensive study of #i#Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam#/i# in their company. While he was thus engaged, he submitted sick-leave reports to his employer, the Nawab. But the ruler was so anxious for Sanātana Gosvāmī’s advice in government matters that one day he suddenly appeared at his house. When the Nawab entered the room where Sanātana Gosvāmī and the #i#brāhmaṇas#/i# were assembled, out of respect they all stood up to receive him, and they offered him a place to sit.
#$p#“You have submitted sick reports,” the Nawab told Sanātana Gosvāmī, “but I sent my physician to see you, and he reported that you have no illness at all. Since I did not know why you were submitting sick reports and not attending to your service, I have personally come to see you. I am much perturbed by your behavior. As you know, I completely depend on you and your responsible work in government. I was free to act in other matters because I was depending on you, but if you do not join me, your past devotion will be spoiled. Now, what is your intention? Please tell me.”
#$p#On hearing this, Sanātana Gosvāmī replied that he was unable to work anymore and that it would be very kind of the Nawab to appoint someone else to execute the work that had been entrusted to him. At this the Nawab became very angry and said, “Your elder brother lives like a hunter, and if you retire from the administration, everything will be finished.” It was said that the Nawab used to treat Sanātana Gosvāmī like a younger brother. Since the Nawab was principally engaged in conquering different parts of the country and also in hunting, he depended largely on Sanātana Gosvāmī for government administration. Thus he pleaded with him: “If you retire from government service, how will the administration be run?”
#$p#“You are the governor of Gauḍa,” Sanātana Gosvāmī replied very gravely, “and you punish different kinds of criminals in different ways. So you are at liberty to punish anyone according to his activity.” By this reply Sanātana Gosvāmī indicated that since the governor was engaged in hunting animals and in killing men to expand his kingdom, let both of them suffer according to the acts they were performing. The Nawab, being intelligent, understood Sanātana Gosvāmī’s purport. He left the house in an angry mood, and shortly afterward he went off to conquer Orissa. He ordered the arrest of Sanātana Gosvāmī and commanded that he be held until the Nawab returned.
#$p#When Rūpa Gosvāmī learned that the Nawab had arrested his elder brother Sanātana, Rūpa sent Sanātana a message that he could use the ten thousand coins in the care of the Bengali grocer to secure his release from the Nawab’s detention. Having sent this message, Rūpa departed for Vṛndāvana with his younger brother Vallabha to meet Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
#$p#After receiving Rūpa Gosvāmī’s message, Sanātana offered five thousand of the coins to the keeper of the jail in which he was being held in custody. He advised the jailkeeper to gladly accept the five thousand coins from him and let him go because by accepting the money he would not only be materially benefited but would also be acting very righteously by freeing Sanātana for spiritual purposes.
#$p#“Of course I would like to let you go,” the jailkeeper replied, “for you have done many services for me and you are in government service. But I’m afraid of the Nawab. When he hears that you are free, I’ll have to explain everything to him. How can I accept such a proposal?” Sanātana then invented a story the jailkeeper might submit to the Nawab to explain how he had escaped, and he raised his offer to ten thousand coins. Anxious to get the money, the jailkeeper agreed to the proposition and let him go.
#$p#Sanātana then departed to see the Lord. He did not travel on the open road but went through the jungles until he arrived at a place in Bihar called Pātaḍā. There he rested in a hotel, but the hotelkeeper was informed by an astrologer employed there that Sanātana Gosvāmī had some gold coins with him. The hotelkeeper, wanting to steal the money, spoke to Sanātana with superficial respect: “Just take your rest tonight, and in the morning I shall arrange for you to get out of this jungle trap.”
#$p#However, Sanātana was suspicious of his behavior, and he inquired from his servant Īśāna whether he had some money. Īśāna told him that he had seven gold coins. Sanātana did not like the idea of the servant carrying such money. He became angry with him and said, “Why do you carry this death knell on the road?”
#$p#Sanātana at once took the gold coins and offered them to the hotelkeeper. He then requested the hotel keeper to help him through the jungle. Sanātana informed him that he was on a special journey for the government and that since he could not travel on the open road, it would be very kind of the hotelkeeper to help him through the jungle and over the hills.
#$p#The hotelkeeper replied, “I learned that you had eight coins with you, and I was thinking of killing you to take them. But I can understand that you are a very good man, and so you don’t have to offer me the money. I will get you over this hilly tract of land.”
#$p#“If you don’t accept these coins, then someone else will take them from me,” Sanātana replied. “Someone will kill me for them, so it is better that you take them. I offer them to you.” The hotelkeeper then gave him full assistance, and that very night he helped him get past the hills.
#$p#When Sanātana emerged from the hills, he requested his servant to go home with the one coin he still had with him, for Sanātana decided he would go on alone. After the departure of his servant, Sanātana felt completely free. With torn clothing and with a waterpot in his hand, he proceeded toward Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. On the way he met his rich brother-in-law, who was also in the government service and who offered him an excellent blanket, which Sanātana accepted at his special request. Then he departed from him and went on alone to see Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Benares.
#$p#When he reached Benares, Sanātana learned that the Lord was there, and he became overjoyed. He was informed by the people that the Lord was staying at the house of Candraśekhara, and Sanātana went there. Although Caitanya Mahāprabhu was inside the house, He could understand that Sanātana had arrived at the door, and He asked Candraśekhara to call in the man who was sitting there. “He is a Vaiṣṇava, a great devotee of the Lord,” Caitanya Mahāprabhu said. Candraśekhara came out to see the man, but he saw no Vaiṣṇava at the door. He saw only a man who appeared to be a Muslim mendicant. The Lord then asked to see the mendicant, and when Sanātana entered the courtyard, Lord Caitanya hurriedly came out to receive him and embrace him. When the Lord embraced him, Sanātana became overwhelmed with spiritual ecstasy, and he said, “My dear Lord, please do not touch me.” But they embraced each other and began to cry. Seeing Sanātana and Lord Caitanya acting thus, Candraśekhara was struck with wonder. Caitanya Mahāprabhu then asked Sanātana to sit down with Him on a bench. The Lord was touching the body of Sanātana with His hand, and again Sanātana asked Him, “My dear Lord, please do not touch me.”
#$p#“I am touching you just for My purification,” the Lord replied, “for you are a great devotee. By your devotional service you can deliver the whole universe and enable everyone to go back to Godhead.”
#$p#The Lord then quoted a nice verse from the Vedic literature stating that a person who is a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa and is one hundred percent engaged in devotional service is far better than a #i#brāhmaṇa#/i# who is versed in all the Vedic literatures but who does not engage in the devotional service of the Lord. Because the devotee carries the Supreme Lord within his heart, he can purify every place and everything.
#$p#The Vedic literature also states that the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not recognize a nondevotee who is very learned in all the divisions of the #i#Vedas#/i# but He likes a devotee even if he was born in a low family. If one offers charity to a #i#brāhmaṇa#/i# who is not a devotee, the Lord does not accept it; but if something is offered to a devotee, the Lord accepts. In other words, whatever a person wishes to offer the Lord may be given to His devotees. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also quoted #i#Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam#/i# to the effect that even if a #i#brāhmaṇa#/i# was born in a high family and is qualified with the twelve brahminical qualities, he is lower than the lowest of the low if he is not a devotee of the Supreme Lord. Although a devotee may have been born in a #i#caṇḍāla#/i# (dog-eater) family, by devotional service he can purify his whole family for one hundred generations, past and future, whereas a proud #i#brāhmaṇa#/i# cannot purify even himself. Lord Caitanya then said to Sanātana, quoting the #i#Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya#/i# (13.2):
#dl##dd##i#akṣnoḥ phalaṁ tvādṛśa-darśanaṁ hi#/i##/dd#
#dd##i#tanoḥ phalaṁ tvādṛśa-gātra-saṅgaḥ#/i##/dd#
#dd##i#jihvā-phalaṁ tvādṛśa-kīrtanaṁ hi#/i##/dd#
#dd##i#su-durlabhā bhāgavatā hi loke#/i##/dd##/dl#
“O devotee of the Lord, to see you is the perfection of the eyes, to touch your body is the perfection of bodily activities, and to glorify your qualities is the perfection of the tongue, for it is very rare to find a pure devotee like you.”
#$p#Next the Lord told Sanātana, “Kṛṣṇa is very merciful and is the deliverer of fallen souls. He has saved you from Mahāraurava.” #i#Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam#/i# describes Mahāraurava as a hell meant for persons engaged in killing animals, for it is stated there that butchers and animal eaters go to that hell.
#$p#“I do not know the mercy of Kṛṣṇa,” Sanātana replied, “but I can understand that Your mercy upon me is causeless. You have delivered me from the entanglement of material life.”
#$p#Then the Lord asked, “How did you get free from custody? I understand that you were arrested.” Sanātana then narrated the whole story of his release. The Lord then informed him: “I saw your two brothers and advised them to proceed toward Vṛndāvana.”
#$p#Lord Caitanya then introduced Candraśekhara and Tapana Miśra to Sanātana, and Tapana Miśra pleasantly invited Sanātana to dine with him. The Lord requested Candraśekhara to take Sanātana to a barber and make him “gentle,” for Sanātana had grown a long beard, which Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not like. He asked Candraśekhara to provide Sanātana not only with a bath and clean shave but with a change of clothes as well.
#$p#After Sanātana had bathed, Candraśekhara offered him some good cloth. When Lord Caitanya was informed that Sanātana had not accepted the new garments but later accepted only some used garments from Tapana Miśra, He was very glad. The Lord went to Tapana Miśra’s house for lunch and asked him to keep food for Sanātana. Tapana Miśra did not offer Sanātana food immediately, however, but after the Lord had finished eating there were some remnants of His food, and those remnants were offered to Sanātana while the Lord took His rest.
#$p#After resting, Lord Caitanya introduced a Maharashtrian #i#brāhmaṇa#/i#, a devotee of His, to Sanātana, and that #i#brāhmaṇa#/i# invited Sanātana to accept lunch daily at his place as long as he remained in Benares.
#$p#“As long as I remain in Benares, I will beg from door to door,” Sanātana said. “But the Lord will be so good as to accept this invitation for daily lunch at your house.”
#$p#Lord Caitanya was very much pleased by this behavior of Sanātana’s, but He noticed the valuable blanket that had been given to him by his brother-in-law while Sanātana was en route to Benares. Although Lord Caitanya did not say anything about the blanket, Sanātana understood that He did not approve of such a valuable garment on his body, and therefore Sanātana decided to get rid of it. He immediately went to the bank of the Ganges, and there he saw a mendicant washing an old quilt. When Sanātana asked him to trade the old quilt for the valuable blanket, the poor mendicant thought that Sanātana was joking with him. “How is this?” the mendicant replied. “You appear to be a very nice gentleman, but you are mocking me in this unmannerly way.”
#$p#“I am not joking with you,” Sanātana informed him. “I am very serious. Will you kindly exchange your torn quilt for this blanket?” Finally the mendicant exchanged his torn quilt for the blanket, and Sanātana returned to the Lord.
#$p#“Where is your valuable blanket?” the Lord immediately inquired. Sanātana informed Him about the exchange, and the Lord loved him for this and thanked him. “You are intelligent enough, and you have now exhausted all your attraction for material wealth.” In other words, the Lord accepts a person for devotional service only when he is completely free from all material possessions. The Lord then told Sanātana: “It would not look good for you to be a mendicant and beg from door to door with such a valuable blanket on your body. It is contradictory, and people would look on it with abhorrence.”
#$p#“Whatever I am doing to become free from material attachment is all Your mercy,” Sanātana replied. The Lord was very much pleased with him, and they discussed spiritual advancement.
#$p#Previous to this meeting between Lord Caitanya and Sanātana Gosvāmī, the Lord had met a householder devotee named Rāmānanda Rāya. At that meeting, which is discussed in a later chapter, Lord Caitanya asked Rāmānanda Rāya questions, and Rāmānanda replied as if he were the Lord’s teacher. However, in this case Sanātana put questions to the Lord, and the Lord answered them.
#$p#The instructions of Lord Caitanya to Sanātana Gosvāmī are very important for people in general. The Lord taught him the process of devotional service, which is the constitutional occupation of every living entity. Because this is so, it is every man’s duty to advance in spiritual science. Many subjects were thoroughly discussed in the talks between Lord Caitanya and Sanātana Gosvāmī. Due to the mercy of Lord Caitanya, Sanātana was able to put important questions before Him, and these questions were replied to properly.
#$p#The meeting of Sanātana Gosvāmī and Lord Caitanya teaches us that to understand spiritual subject matters one must approach a spiritual master like Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and make submissive inquiries. This is confirmed in the instructions of the #i#Bhagavad-gītā#/i# (4.34), where Lord Kṛṣṇa says that one should approach a man of authority and learn the spiritual science from him.
#/div# |
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